The Mirror
by Shilyn
Summary: When Inuyasha makes Kagome mad again she returns to her era fuming. But when the hanyou tries to fetch her, he discovers the well won't let him pass...Complete!
1. The Mirror Part 1

Disclaimer: No, I don't own Inuyasha and never will. I just like to write about them...

Author's Note: This is my first fan-fic and my very first attempt to ever post my work anywhere, so to say the least I'm a bit nervous...bare with me here...review and tell me (please!!) both critiques and make sure to tell me if I'm doing something stupid er something, anything...I'm clueless please forgive me!

The Mirror

A shadow ran through the forest, not running but leaping in the darkness of the night. Trees flitted by; birds roosting in their nests far above shuddered in their sleep, unaware of the threat that'd just flown past them. At the edge of a clearing the dark figure leapt high into the air and landed without the slightest sound or wobble of counterbalance in the arms of a tall, powerful tree. Crouching there, the threatening shadow stared into the meadow, its feral amber colored eyes glowing, fixed solely on a small wooden well in the center of the grassy clearing.

In the limited light provided by the stars a keen-eyed mortal might've just made out that the shadow, hunched and observant as a night owl, had long and flowing silver hair. When the wind stirred the grass in the meadow below it also rippled the night-stalker's flowing mane of silver hair. Atop the stalker's head two neatly rounded ears were perched, pointed forward and intent, just as the gold eyes were, upon the meadow below.

The hours wore by and neither the stalker in the tree nor the meadow below him moved. At last the sun began to creep over the horizon in the east, chasing away the blackness and the stars of the night. In the distant village a rooster crowed, announcing the arrival of another day in Feudal Japan.

In the center of the meadow nothing moved, and as the light of the new day began to spread over the whole of Japan the figure in the tree seemed to sag, even as the newly arrived daylight revealed his form. Of course it was Inuyasha, the hopeless hanyou, waiting at the Bone Eater's Well for Kagome's return...a return that he knew was destined never to happen.

As Inuyasha began to lose patience with his nightly ritual his fuzzy white ears drooped, despairingly. Kagome would never come back, and though he'd tried time and time again to enter the Well himself and fetch her his attempts always failed. Whether it was because the Well's magic had simply failed or he had actually lost the ability to travel by way of the Well he, didn't know. The only thing that Inyasha did know for certain was that the Well no longer allowed him to see Kagome; therefore he could only wait for her to return to him...

This is all my fault! The hanyou berated himself; I brought this on myself! Even the Well understands that...

Wrapped heavily inside his own depressing thoughts the hanyou never heard the approaching footsteps. He was completely oblivious to having any company at all until a smooth, calming male voice reached his acute ears: Miroku.

"Well Inuyasha, fancy meeting you here this lovely morning."

Startled, but quickly covering that emotion with annoyance, Inuyasha turned his golden orbs down to the base of his tree, his glare angry.

"Mind your own business—you stupid hentai!" he snarled, clearly showing the lecherous monk a gleaming white fang in warning.

Below him the handsome, utterly calm and sensible monk sighed, shaking his head at Inuyasha's usual blustering hotheadedness. The hanyou never changed. It'd been close to a month since Kagome had left them, for reasons unknown to everyone—everyone, that is, with the exception of one sulking hanyou. Yet Inuyasha never admitted what'd gone wrong, or even mentioned that he missed the girl! He didn't need to, it was true—Miroku, Sango, Shippo, and the others all knew that Inuyasha missed Kagome just as he missed the moon on the nights when he became completely human.

"Monk," snapped Inuyasha from the tree above abruptly, snapping Miroku from his thoughts with a blink.

"Yes Inuyasha?" Miroku stared straight up the tree's length, but Inuyasha wasn't meeting him in the eye, the half-demon's stare was still directed at the Well, lost in thought.

"Do you know of any reason that Well might not let me pass through it?" the question was stated in a monotone, hinting at nothing, yet nevertheless it intrigued Miroku. He'd always wondered, over the last few weeks, if Inuyasha's pride could really keep him from crawling back to Kagome by traveling through the Well. The hanyou was far too proud and stubborn to speak of it to the others, Miroku knew, but at any rate he should've gone to drag Kagome back by force by now...unless he no longer could travel through it. The thought tickled Miroku's mind, calling out to him irresistibly, much the same as Sango's slender curves did to his hand.

"Inuyasha," Miroku started cautiously, "Are you saying that you can't go through the Well?"

"No!" Inuyasha snarled, outraged, though he knew full well that the monk had caught him, and in truth he'd not expected to escape with his latest weakness undiscovered. His pride had finally run dry on the subject—he'd stopped caring about himself. His need to see, to smell, to hear, to touch Kagome again overpowered his pride now.

"Okay..." Miroku sighed, rolling his eyes in exasperation. When will he just grow up? No wonder Kagome left and didn't come back! Even so, knowing that it was likely Inuyasha really had lost the ability to travel through the Well; he began hesitantly speaking his mind on the subject.

"None of us have been able to pass through the Well Inuyasha. Only you and Kagome with her Jewel shards have managed it. Honestly I know little beyond that. This well and the Sacred Tree are connections between our time and Kagome's, but it seems to me that it's only your connection with Kagome, and hers with you, that allows your passage..." Miroku tried to crane his neck to turn his eyes toward the sulking hanyou but still Inuyasha wasn't looking at him and the monk couldn't read his companion's face.

Though Miroku didn't expect anything in the way of a reply Inuyasha surprised him. From the tree the half-demon grunted and shifted his position, the only warning Miroku had before suddenly the hanyou was crouched on the ground at his side, not even a speck of dust stirred from his landing.

"You didn't answer my question Monk." Snapped Inuyasha, irritably. He rose to his feet, flinging his silver hair from out of his face with a quick twitch of his head. The ears atop his head twitched and flickered, like nervous birds at dawn.

"The truth is I don't know Inuyasha." Miroku sighed, quickly realizing that the thought of Kagome's return really was hopeless. Inuyasha had hurt her in some way again and now the Well wouldn't let him travel through it, thus Kagome, surely on the other side and waiting in heartbreak, would think he'd ceased to care. After all, if Inuyasha cared, wouldn't he surely come after her and attempt to apologize? Or wait, that was too much to expect of the stubborn hanyou, Kagome surely was waiting to be dragged back to the Feudal Era. That was the only thing she'd get from Inuyasha, yet it was enough to keep her coming back.

"I wish you good day Inuyasha." Miroku piped up cheerily then, dismissing the matter from his mind and giving his friend a pat on the shoulder reassuringly. He turned and started to walk away, his staff jingle-jangling and glittering in the sunlight. Sango is waiting for me and my mischievous right hand, I don't want to keep her waiting, he smirked to himself.

Left behind, Inuyasha scowled and turned his back on Miroku's retreating form. He stood stock still, listening to the forest and the fading footsteps of his perverted friend, but all the while his eyes, golden and haunted, were locked onto the Well. The moment Miroku's footsteps receded into nothingness Inuyasha felt his knees quiver though he desperately tried to restrain them.

"Damn Well!" he snarled, quietly to make sure that Miroku wouldn't overhear his frustration, "Why now?!"

In a flash of heated motion Inuyasha crossed the meadow and kneeled at the Well, digging his claws into the dirt there, miserably. Ears alert and aimed at the darkness of the Well he stared into it, squinting his amber eyes, willing them to show him somehow that something had changed. When he leapt into it this time it would let him pass, it would lead him to Kagome's time and straight to Kagome. And, Gods help him, once he reached her, saw her, scented her, heard her breathing, her heartbeat—touched her soft skin—he'd never let go, never leave her again!

Growling determinedly, Inuyasha rose from his spot at the side of the Well, a clump of moist soil in each clenched, clawed fist. The loose earth crept between his locked fingers no matter how he squeezed, demon strength or no, and was swept away, out of his reach like the wind. Inuyasha was momentarily distracted by the sight, bitterly intrigued.

It flies away from me, no matter how hard I clench my fingers; it always gets away...just like Kagome!

Furiously Inuyasha threw what little soil and sand remained in his fists into the wind, giving up. As it flew away he screamed hopelessly, "What the hell am I doing wrong?!"

Once more he felt his knees shiver and Inuyasha gave into the weakness, collapsing onto his knees, his hands reached out and gripped the Well in anguish, squeezing so tightly that his knuckles flushed white. His head bowed in grief as his heart cried in the loneliness that seemed to define his life. The moment he found something it was ripped mercilessly from him...

"I'd do anything!" Inuyasha spat at the Well's uncaring darkness, a darkness he knew led nowhere for him.

"Anything for her!" he was shaking all over, fearing he'd never see Kagome again, fearing he'd never be able to tell her everything he'd always meant to, fearing that everything they'd had between them would end now, over such a stupid little argument...

Endnote: Nope, that's not the end of this one...I didn't really want it to have chapters but since I'm still learning this uploading business and all...I wanted to make sure I knew how to do chapters properly...pray for me! It's already done so if you're wondering about the "little" argument and whether or not I'll tear Inu and Kagome apart forever, well it's all settled in the next installment so don't worry! I'll have it for you tomorrow...


	2. The Mirror Part 2

Disclaimer (again): I don't own Inuyasha or Kagome or anyone...

Author's Note: This is the second half of The Mirror...the story is named, in case you're wondering, for a mirror that shows up in about the second paragraph of Inuyasha's flashback...shrugs I thought about saying "flashback" but Reverie sounds so much nicer to my ears and so I decided to visit the "little argument" by addressing it "reverie." If it's unclear scream at me...I'm still learning and open to suggestions...this is all new to me. So...on with it:

Reverie

A little over a month ago, while resting up in the village with Kaede a famous fortuneteller passed through the small village, by the name of Kykatu. Miroku and the fortuneteller had bartered with each other for various potions and trinkets as well as the latest news from some of the other islands of Japan. While Miroku settled on his final selections, Kagome and Sango had spoken to Kykatu and the fortuneteller, eager to impress and please pretty young girls, had promised them a free glimpse at their futures.

"This," he told them, handing Sango a small, shiny, palm-sized purple mirror, "Is made from amethyst, and just after it was carved a spell was placed on it. To everyone that holds it and wishes to see a glimpse of their future—their destiny—the mirror obeys, but it will only show one thing, and whether it is a good thing or a bad thing the mirror will never tell."

Inuyasha remembered, so clearly, wanting to bite Kykatu's fingers off for lying to the girls. _Mirrors only reflect the person staring into them,_ he thought, and of course they will be in their own destinies! He'd been about to snarl and demand that Miroku conduct the rest of his business with Kykatu alone but at that moment Sango had made a choking sound, catching Inuyasha's attention.

"Oh my..." but she never finished the sentence before the shock left her face and embarrassment replaced it, "No, that can't be possible!" her cheeks reddened and Kagome lunged for the mirror then, eagerly.

"Let me see, let me see!" She squealed, giggling, the sound tickling Inuyasha's ears even a month into the future when his Kagome was long, long gone. But when Kagome stared into the mirror, even though Sango was still looking away from it and blushing, her pretty face fell.

"I don't see anything..." she looked up at Kykatu in distress.

The fortuneteller smiled, amused, "Take the mirror from Lady Sango."

Kagome did as he asked, and Sango offered no argument, instead she looked quickly back at Miroku, who was completely oblivious as usual, and her cheeks flushed once more, as if she was on fire. Inuyasha couldn't help but notice the exchange and smirk, though he was more curious to discover what Kagome might see inside the mirror, or perhaps, though he was disgusted with himself for considering it, what _he_ might see in it.

Kagome's reaction to what was inside the mirror was similar to Sango's, but much quieter. The girl's hand flew to her mouth, her eyes grew wide as dinner plates, and her cheeks flared red but she didn't squeal or act truly embarrassed by whatever she saw. Briefly he wondered what she could possibly be seeing, though he restrained himself from looking too interested in it, yet he couldn't resist making a "Feh!" sound seeing Kagome's response. Hearing him, Kagome looked up at the hanyou and her eyes twinkled, alight with intense happiness.

"Inuyasha! Inuyasha!" she giggled, rushing toward him and trying to show him what she saw inside the purple shine of the amethyst mirror, "Do you see it?" she demanded, excitedly.

He didn't. Staring, genuinely interested, though a scowl remained carefully concealing this, Inuyasha felt his heart sink, as he saw nothing.

He shook his head, "No." and once more looked to Kykatu who sighed almost wearily at having to explain the mirror again.

"The mirror tells only one destiny at a time and doesn't reveal it to others...only the receiver of the reflection can do that." he added thoughtfully, leaving it up to Sango and Kagome to either keep their secrets or reveal them.

To that Sango snorted and shook her head in a daze, "Well mine wasn't right, so there's no point even remembering it, let alone telling it to anyone!" behind her Miroku suddenly seemed to take notice, but if he'd been planning to ask her about it he never got to, for at that moment Kagome went out on a limb, exposing herself.

"Inuyasha!" she cried eagerly, still holding the mirror, "I saw you!" before Inuyasha even had a chance to react to that information or even let it sink into his mind Kagome forced the mirror into his clawed hands, coercing him to stare into it just as she and Sango had before.

Entranced, despite himself, Inuyasha stared into the purple depths of the mirror and watched as shapes and colors began to materialize...into a face: black hair, warm brownish colored eyes...Kagome..._not_ Kikyo, _not_ Naraku, _not_ his brother, just Kagome...he became aware that the living, breathing Kagome at his side was hopping up and down in childish exuberance, and he could feel his cheeks flushing, his emotions churning wildly. Pressure from nowhere, inner turmoil...fear...

"What do _you_ see Inuyasha?" she was so full of hope, of longing. Inuyasha rose his gaze to take in the monk and Sango and Kykatu all staring at him, his heart thumped uncontrollably in his chest, his mind felt muddled...looking to the mirror again he saw clearly the same image, clear as the sun in the sky above their group, but he _couldn't_ say it aloud, _couldn't _expose himself...

"Feh," he huffed and shoved the mirror back at Kagome roughly, "I see myself as a youkai." He pushed his nose into the air arrogantly, hoping he looked convincing. Beside him Kagome seemed to have shrunken, and he knew instinctually that he'd hurt her, though he hoped, he prayed she knew it was a lie...

"Oh..." she murmured, sadly, staring into the purple mirror in her hands once more, longingly. After a moment she looked up at him and tried to smile again, "I _still_ see you Inuyasha!"

And then he said the cruelest thing... "Feh," he snorted instinctually, "I'm never gonna see _you_ in that mirror, if that's what you're thinking!"

Reverie Ends

A month later and Inuyasha couldn't curse himself enough for being so stupid, so pointlessly cruel. Kagome always showed her caring, she never failed to come through and offer her support for the hanyou. Inuyasha gave her little to nothing in return. Before the incident with the mirror though she'd always come back, or he'd gone to fetch her. Yet now the Well wouldn't let him pass...what was he to do?!

Shaking, still gripping the Well, remembering his stupidity, Inuyasha squeezed his amber eyes closed, bitterly, hopelessly. If only he could tell her he was sorry, if only he could tell her the truth! His breathing staggered, Inuyasha leaned his head over the darkness of the Well, peering down into it's depths...a single tear oozed from the corner of one eye and fell, careening through space and time into the Well's depths.

"Kagome," he whispered, still shaking, "I saw you in the mirror...please come back...the Well won't let me come for you...I miss you..." despairing, his head sank, ears drooping, and then he felt a tingling begin in his hands where they gripped the Well. Surprised he looked down, but saw nothing out of the ordinary, yet the sensation continued nonetheless. Then he felt the tingling in his mind as well and suddenly there was a voice as if someone—no not someone but Kagome—were whispering directly into his ear.

_"Inuyasha...I miss you too."_

Inuyasha gasped, shocked, wondering if it was just inside his mind, yet even as he thought this the tingling returned and he heard the voice whisper again, as if right into his ear.

_"...You saw me?"_

"Yes..." he waited a moment, but there was nothing else, no scent, no sound, no tingling, no Kagome. Inside his heart squeezed again and he gripped the Well tighter and leaned further toward its inky blackness, "Kagome!" he cried, desperately afraid he'd imagined it.

The tingling resumed in his palms and in his mind, the whisper came again, _"I'm here Inuyasha...how...how are we speaking?"_

Inuyasha laughed, a dry, almost harsh sound, yet it was a cry full of relief, "I don't care how Kagome, I just want..."

_"Want what?"_

"You..." he whispered, shivering that he'd confessed something like that. A cold, hard lump formed in his throat and he swallowed hard, afraid he might cry. Demons and half-demons never cry you know.

_"Me...?"_

He chickened out of the full implications of her hovering question, instead yelling, "Yes, I want you to come back! Come back now!" an immense cloud of relief and joy, like the breaking of a fever, swallowed him whole and Inuyasha sagged with it, almost collapsing into the Well at that moment, struggling for breath, laughing with how happy he was.

Then, just when he'd thought he'd had enough surprises for one day Inuyasha heard a grunt and then, right in front of his nose a hand appeared, clasping the edge of the Well from the inside. Instantly a scent filled his nostrils and joy surged through his veins: Kagome! She must've happened to be standing near the Well in her era just as Inuyasha had been near it in his.

Without thinking he reached down and grabbed her wrist, ripping her out of the Well with a yelp of shock. She struggled a little in his grasp, making them both unstable, and both Inuyasha and Kagome screeched as they fell over into the dust beside the Well, laughing with the simple bliss of being in each other's company again. They lied quietly where they'd fallen, catching their breath together for a moment before Inuyasha, filled with the need to set things right with her and undo his wrongs, sat up pulling her up as well. He'd meant to look her in the eye and tell her that he was sorry, truly sorry, about the mirror, about insulting her as he had, about the resulting fight, about everything, but Kagome surprised him, yet again.

The girl flung her arms around him and drew him into a tight hug. Her hands moved in excited circles on his back. For a moment Inuyasha did nothing, then, as if a button had been pressed to set him off, he pulled her closer, tightening the hug, and nuzzled her neck, like a puppy might its mother.

"I missed you Inuyasha...why didn't you come for me?" the girl whispered faintly against him.

"The Well!" Inuyasha stammered, pulling away and meeting her eye, annoyed now, "It wouldn't let me go through! I told you that before!"

"Oh," Kagome murmured sheepishly, averting her eyes quickly, but Inuyasha, still a mile high with the relief of seeing her, his precious Kagome, would have none of that.

"Nevermind it now, Kagome," he whispered softly, taking her chin gently with one of his clawed hands, "All that matters is that you're back, at last..." he smiled warmly at her for a brief second. Then his amber eyes seemed to mist over and following the instinct of the moment he edged closer to her, his lips yearning for her warmth...

They weren't even an inch apart! So close that he could feel her breath caressing his lips and cheeks, so close he could almost _taste_ her...

Kagome fidgeted abruptly and whispered his name, breaking the moment once and probably forever. Inuyasha stared at Kagome, his heart sinking, restraining the urge his ears had to droop, and pulled away from her, rising to his feet. Internally he was growling, screaming, shouting for Kagome's kiss, for her touch, for just her...but that was his wilder, untamed, unthinking demon half. The human part of him played things safer and Inuyasha had had far too many near misses in which he'd caused the rift that sent her running for home with no sign of return.

"We should get back to the village." He muttered blandly, half-heartedly, "The others will be happy you came back...especially Shippo."

"Yes..." Kagome whispered, sounding as if she was just considering the others for the first time, but her face quickly lifted, full of excitement. That was his Kagome, never letting anything get her down!

"Let's go Inuyasha!" she cried happily, snatching up his hand and tugging the hanyou toward the village at a trot.

Behind her Inuyasha felt limp with his spent tension, but satisfied. She was back! He squeezed her hand tightly and he felt her squeeze right back and look over her shoulder at him with a quick smirk. Yes, she was back...

And he'd never let her go again!

(Famous Last Words Inuyasha!)

Fin

Endnote: That's it...I hope somebody liked it out there...this is my first fic to post here so I'm still scared and new to this...anyone got any helpful suggestions? I'd love to hear from you

Shilyn


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